


Ghosts

by fangirl2013



Category: The White Queen (TV)
Genre: Battlefield, Death, F/M, Love, Medieval
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-31
Updated: 2015-07-31
Packaged: 2018-04-10 17:07:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4400249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirl2013/pseuds/fangirl2013
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lying on the battlefield, bloody and defeated, Richard hears the one he truly longs for....</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ghosts

**Author's Note:**

> This is angsty, please forgive me. It just suited my mood.

Breathing deeply, his chest aching and seeping blood, Richard's gaze sought the muddy men in front of him. Swords and knives filled their hands reminding him of what they'd done. He'd felt the metal searing into his flesh yet instead of feeling pain as he had before, he'd felt numb. The blood had gushed and he had felt it. His hands had come to the wound, almost as if to inspect the damage they had done to him. The wound felt deep, surprisingly so but still, pain did not come to him. His eyes started closing rapidly, the desire to block the world too much for him to fight. 

The blackness that surrounded him felt heavenly. For the first time since his wife's death, he felt peaceful. The guilt that plagued his heart was no longer there. His heart leaped within him as he registered a voice. It was soft and familiar and he felt comforted at the sound. His eyes flickered to a close. He wanted to savour the sound of her love. The fear that it would vanish had surfaced almost as soon as he had heard it. 

"Anne?" He sounded fearful, as if he half expected a monster or ghost to jump out in front of him. After all, it was not as if he did not deserve it. 

Silence descended upon him and the fear he felt seemed to stab inside him. What would happen if he never heard her speak again? Could he forget he'd never heard it? His mind screamed that it didn't matter and that in all probability he was dead, but that didn't stop him wondering. He couldn't think of anything else. Nothing else seemed to matter, in that moment. 

"The battle's going badly, you know." He almost jumped at the sound of her voice, despite the softness of it. His eyes searched for her, wanting to see her once more. It was instinctive. When he couldn't see anything in the darkness, he focused on her soft, velvety voice. Instinctively, his eyes fluttered to a close as he tried to desperately saviour the sound of it. He'd longed so badly to hear it!

He almost felt reluctant to respond to her. If he did speak, would she disappear completely? As much as the thought tortured him, he couldn't stop himself answering her. He could barely believed it was Anne he was hearing....

"Yes, it would seem so. I have let you down." The sorrow in Richard's voice was clear to hear. It made his words thick and uncomfortable in his throat. He felt a moment's panic as he waited for a response. Still, the darkness surrounded him and there was no sign of his queen. Even as he waited, his eyes still searched for. 

He knew he'd started to cry. He could feel the tears trailing down his cheeks but for once, his charade of bravery had collapsed. Not only did he want and need comforting but his desire to see Anne again was too strong for him to ignore. He left them flowing, without any attempt at wiping them away. After all, no-one was there to judge him and Anne would never do such a thing. Not with him.

"The only person you have let down is yourself. Every action you did was for you, not me. It was your own selfish need and desire that led you to this! Please, I beg of you, do not pretend." Her words were soft but the impact of them on Richard left him gasping in disbelief. For the first time since he'd heard her voice, he wondered whether it was truly Anne. Was it some kind daemon come to plague him until his end?

As he opened his mouth to defend himself, he found she was not yet finished. Her voice seemed to rise in volume as she spoke and Richard found himself listening in horror. 

"Elizabeth. You ruined her reputation because of your desire. You didn't give a second thought to my feeling or hers as long as you got what you wanted. You are exactly like George!" Anger he'd never heard before in his wife's voice filled his ears and he seemed to be unsure what to say. He almost wanted her to stop. To stop all the terrible things she was telling him. 

A laugh, filled with pure hysteria, filled the darkness as 'Anne' finally finished. He could recognise little of Anne in the laugh and as a result, his tears intensified. Tears mingled with the blood on his muddy face but he barely noticed. Her laugh seemed to torture him more effectively than any weapon ever could. Had he caused everything to go so very wrong? Elizabeth? The Battle? Even Anne? She certainly believed so. Finally, as her laugh continued, he couldn't take anymore.

"Stop! Please. Stop, Anne." He begged, his voice breaking with the emotion he felt. 

Instantly, the laugh ceased. He should have felt relieved it had yet he did not. He still yearned for Anne. He wanted to be able to hold her, to apologise for all he'd done and to explain his actions. His tears seemed to choke him as he started to realise that perhaps Anne was truly gone. As the sound of his cries become louder they echoed in his ears and it took all his strength to compose himself.

The darkness, he barely noticed yet he could still feel Anne's presence. It filled him once again with hope. If he could feel her, then surely he would be able to see her too? He couldn't stop the hope flickering within him. 

"Anne?" His voice was tentative but also with a hint of desperation in it. 

He waited for her to respond, to talk once again. His heart thundered in his bloody chest as he waited. Even as he realised she was gone and so would not speak to him, his heart still thumped frantically. It helped to remind him he was painfully still alive. The thought should have given him some sort of hope but it didn't. As Anne had pointed out to him, he'd brought it all upon himself...

"Your grace?" The voice sounded deeper. Deeper than the one he'd been listening to and despite the tiredness that swamped him, he wanted to answer them back. Was he still king? Had Henry not won? The questions whirled around his brain quickly but he knew he couldn't answer. Could the 'voice' answer them, instead?

As his eyes flickered open, he soon spotted Sir Robert stood gazing upon him, looking worried and exhausted. Richard soon realised he had exchanged one form of hell for another....

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment? Feedback is lovely :)


End file.
